With the pleasant Spring weather, we have been able to maintain outdoor activity on most working days on site. The result has been the connection of the north end of the Carriage Shed to the existing sidings and running line, with the ability to get rolling stock out without having to use the turntable. Two tracks have been provided into the shed and a short siding outside which can be extended in due course when we have more vehicles to store.

With completion of the three points involved the Saturday Culmhead working party was stood down, as the future need for plain track can be met from ‘half-track’ laid to suit the desired alignments with the other two rails welded on when in position. Our thanks go to Andy Webb for his continued patience and understanding in providing his Culmhead facilities and assistance with construction – we shall be back but not as often from now on!

The point lever (or point stand) was pinched for display at the Exhibition together with a set of drawings, and has still to be mounted on site. When a Driver is approaching the facing point in the north loop, he will be able to use it to decide without dismounting, whether to go round in a circle, or continue on back to the station. As such this represents the first small step in Stage 2 of our development at Creech.

However the most significant sign of progress is the new boundary fence and access gates put up by contractors at the end of March to define the remainder of our perimeter around the recreation field. A fence has also been erected to separate our vehicle access to the rear of the station compound from the children’s play area. Putting up the main fence clears the way for embarking on the Stage 2 earthworks and gradually extending the track as we go, once we have confirmed the layout. The first requirement is to make two more points to insert into the north loop from which the track alignments can be struck, and for which the Culmhead working party will be reconstituted shortly.

Easter Monday saw our first operating day of the 2007 season. This first afternoon was reasonably active most of the time, but with limited results in the donations received. Three locomotives were in use but the train services became somewhat disjointed owing to various operating bottlenecks at times, and we needed to revise the organisation. On the 22 April with two locomotives available, only one train set was put into service and, with almost continuous operation for two hours, we carried 160 ticket holding passengers. We also had visitors from the Plymouth club who have asked to come again and bring a locomotive next time.

The operating secret was to put the spare locomotive on to the train as soon as it arrived in the platform and the train could then leave as soon as it was loaded, giving the other locomotive time to turn, coal, water, etc., before standing spare for the next train. With all points spring return, the locomotive and train moves could take place without needing a Pointsman. There was a need to have a Platform Steward(s) and/or Ticket Collector to look after our passengers as well as the Drivers, but once the operating routine had been established the Duty Steward became virtually superfluous.

Thanks are due to Tony Gosling and John Ross our drivers for the whole afternoon, to Tim Hims who acted as platform steward and dispensed the tickets, young Simon Gates who acted as shunter and ticket collector, and to the other club members who helped. We’re still trying to work out how John Henson managed to make looking after the turntable into a four man job!

A similar pattern of working should be possible using two train sets but three locomotives will be needed to keep things moving, but this is probably the limit on the present track layout. Hopefully we can test the theory on the Bank Holiday Monday 7 May when we are expecting visits from the Great Western Society and West Somerset Railway Association.

We would like to acknowledge with much gratitude, the generous Gift of a large quantity of Electric Cable from Mrs. Helen Pearce of Exeter.Many members will well remember her late husband Graham who was a commentator at the Honiton Hill Rally where we so often exhibited.